Is Caring for Animals Good for Young People's Social Development?
A new study finds that young people who have pets are more connected to their communities than those who don't.
The study, by Megan Mueller (Tufts University), is published
in the journal Applied Developmental Science. It is based on a survey of 567
young people in the US aged between 18 and 26, and was part of a wider
longitudinal study called the 4-H study.
The questionnaire asked whether or not participants owned an
animal, how often they were responsible for its care if they did, and whether
they were involved in other activities with animals. Other questions asked
about their contribution to society, commitment to animals, morality about
animals, attachment to and emotions about animals. The researchers also looked
at what are called the 5Cs of positive youth development – competence,
confidence, connection, character and caring.
The results showed a correlation between taking part in
animal-related activities and higher scores on a scale called Contribution.
This is a measure of how much young people contribute to their communities by
helping friends and neighbours, being of service to their communities, and
showing leadership. These questions also asked about the value youth place on
contributing to society.
Amongst those young people who had a pet, those who were
more responsible for its care were also significantly more likely to report
contributing to society. Similarly, those who took part in an animal-related
activity more often also had higher scores for Contribution.
Another finding is that feelings of emotional attachment to
an animal were correlated to feeling connected to society, caring, and greater
feelings of competence. This suggests that caring for animals may help youth
develop the social skills needed to feel sympathy and empathy, for both animals
and people. There could be several reasons for this. It could be that there are
parallels in human-animal relationships and relationships between people, or it
could be simply that having a pet increases interactions with other people.
Mueller says, “Our findings suggest that it may not be
whether an animal is present in an individual’s life that is most significant
but rather the quality of that relationship. The young adults in the study who
had strong attachments to pets reported feeling more connected to their
communities and relationships.”
These results are a snapshot at one moment in time, and do
not show causality. It is possible that only young people who are in a
relatively positive situation are in a position to obtain and care for a pet.
Future research could take a longitudinal approach to
investigating the relationship between human-animal interaction and youth
development. The 4-H study was a national study that followed over 7000 young
people from grade 5 through to after high school, but only the final survey
asked about animal-related activities.
This survey asked mostly about positive aspects of young
people’s development, although it did also include a measure of depression, and
of how well people self-regulate (for example, how they cope with set-backs). There
was no relation between these and animal-related activities. Future research
could include a different mix of both positive and negative traits.
The results chime with other studies of younger people, such
as Maggie O’Haire’s recent work on the benefits of animals in the classroom to children with and without special needs.
What do you think are the benefits of pet ownership for young people?
Reference
Mueller, M.K. (2014). Is human-animal interaction (HAI) linked to positive youth development? Initial answers. Applied Developmental Science, 18 (1), 5-16 DOI: 10.1080/10888691.2014.864205
